The Neag School of Education and its Alumni Board are proud to announce the 2017 Neag School Alumni Award honorees. Six outstanding Neag School graduates will be recognized at the School’s 19th annual Alumni Awards Celebration in Storrs, Conn., on Saturday, March 18, 2017:

• Outstanding School Educator — Shamim S. Patwa ’97 MA, ’00 6th Year, ’03 Ph.D.
  A school psychologist for more than 15 years, Patwa joined Goodwin Elementary School at Mansfield (Conn.) Public Schools in 2013. There, she provides group and individual counseling sessions with an emphasis on problem-solving and conflict resolution, as well as social skills instruction, across all grades. Prior to joining Goodwin, she was an adjunct professor-in-residence of educational psychology at the Neag School of Education, where she taught doctoral and master’s level school psychology students.

• Outstanding School Administrator — Carter Welch ’99 (ED), ’11 Ed.D., ’12 ELP
  As principal at Jerome Harrison Elementary School in North Branford (Conn.) Public Schools since 2014, Welch is responsible for instructional leadership; student learning and assessment; evaluation and professional learning; school climate and behavior; and parent and community involvement. Prior to leading the school, he served as the assistant principal at North Branford High School and has held various posts at North Branford Public Schools for eight years. Welch has also served as a coach and research affiliate with the National School Climate Center and an adjunct professor at Southern Connecticut State University.

• Outstanding School Superintendent — Alan Addley ’07 ELP, ’14 Ed.D.
  For the past eight years, Addley has served as superintendent of schools for Granby (Conn.) Public Schools, where he is the chief executive officer for five schools and 2,000 students. Addley has put Granby on the map with initiatives such as professional learning communities, full-day kindergarten, and elementary world languages. Prior to that role, he served as the principal at Granby Memorial High School and has held various leadership posts at schools throughout Connecticut for 17 years. An avid community leader, Addley also serves as president of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS).

• Outstanding Professional — Alan Kraut ’73 (ED)
  Kraut serves as the executive director of Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), where he provides oversight and development of a new independent accreditation system for clinical psychology. Prior to that role, he was the executive director of the Association for Psychological Science (formerly American Psychological Society) for more than 25 years. Kraut also served in leadership roles for the American Psychological Association and was an assistant professor of psychology at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

• Outstanding Higher Education Professional — Maria D. Martinez ’83 MSW, ’96 Ph.D.
  Martinez is the assistant vice provost at UConn’s Institute for Student Success, where she has provided strategic and operational leadership for the past five years. Concurrently, she also serves as director of UConn’s Center for Academic Programs, where she has managed the daily operations of the TRIO Programs (Student Support Services, Upward Bound, and Talent Search) for the past 20 years.

• Lifetime Achievement Award — Melvyn L. Reich ’69 Ph.D.
  Reich was a special education faculty member for the Neag School of Education for 22 years, and now a professor emeritus. Since his retirement from the University in 1992, he spent the next 25 years serving as director of special education programs in public and private schools in Connecticut, and later in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. During this same time, he continued to provide consulting services to a number of private and public organizations.

The Neag School Alumni Awards Celebration on March 18 begins at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 5:30 p.m. Attire is business formal. No-host bar. The cost of the dinner is $50 per person.

Join us for the celebration on March 18. Register online at s.uconn.edu/neagalumni2017. 

Questions? Contact Caitlin Trinh, Neag School Alumni Relations Director, at 860.486.1202 or ctrinh@foundation.uconn.edu.

Related story: Neag School Celebrates 2016 Alumni Awardees